Lanzhou beef noodle soup, home version (兰州牛肉面)

My personal memory

I spent all my teenage years in Lanzhou (兰州), the capital of Gansu province in the Northwest of China, and Lanzhou beef noodle soup was a regular breakfast treat. In a small cafe beside my school, hundreds of bowls of beef noodle soup were freshly made each morning by a skillful team in a tiny kitchen.

Although the queue was long, the service was always super fast and the taste was always spot on. To me, it’s what I miss the most after moving from Lanzhou. Every time I go back, I take every opportunity to enjoy this humble yet scrumptious delicacy.

Six essential elements

A nice bowl of Lanzhou beef noodle soup consists of six essential elements:

• Clear, aromatic beef broth;
• Cubes/slices of cooked beef;
• Melt-in-your-mouth daikon slices (aka mooli/Chinese white radish) ;
• Elastic hand-pulled noodles;
• Generous amount of chilli oil;
• Fresh coriander or green garlic to garnish

A culinary art of noodle making

Strictly speaking, Lanzhou beef noodle soup is not supposed to be homemade. Or, let me put it another way. It’s almost impossible to imitate it, particularly the rich, aged beef broth (Restaurants claim they have secret ingredients, formulas, etc.) and the sophisticated hand-pulled noodles (it can come in 7-9 different sizes).

Have a look at the video that I took on my Culinary Tour of China which shows you the fascinating process. Words just can’t describe how amazing this culinary art is.

That is why I’ll never dare to claim that I make authentic Lanzhou beef noodle soup. What I’m sharing today is a simplified version that can be easily made in your own kitchen.

An easy way to make hand-pulled noodles

I have a separate post Hand-Pulled Noodles which shows an easy technique to make noodles for this dish. 

To make 2 servings, for example, you would need:

• 250 g all-purpose flour
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 125 ml water (you may need to adjust depending on the brand of your flour)
• cooking oil, for coating the dough

Here are the basic procedures (find more detailed instructions in this post).

1. Make a smooth, fairly firm dough using flour, salt & water.
2. Divide then flatten the dough. Coat with oil then leave to rest.
3. Bring a pot of water to boil. Cut the dough pieces into strips.
4. Pull the strips into long noodles one at a time. Drop into the water.
5. Cook for 1-2 minutes then dish out.

Use other types of noodles

Although not traditional, other types of noodles can be used for this noodle soup too. Homemade ramen noodles (see image above) or hand-rolled noodles are great alternatives. If you’re tight on time, simply boil some shop-bought dried noodles.

How to make a delicious broth

For better flavour and texture, I recommend you choose the beef cuts which have generous amounts of marbling and/or a high amount of connective tissue. Beef shank/shin, for example, is a good choice for this dish. Apart from that, I also add some beef bones. They provide extra flavour and a nice amount of fat to the broth.

In my recipe at the end of the post, you will see a long list of spices used to flavour the beef broth. Find as many as you can. Believe me, they do make a difference!

Make your own Chinese chilli oil

To me, Chinese chilli oil is indispensable for Lanzhou beef noodle soup. It gives the dish an extra zing, as well as a more appetizing look. I highly recommend you make your own when possible.

Some people also like to add some Chinese black rice vinegar to the dish, have a try to see if it’s your cup of tea (not mine to be honest).